What you get in this post: in this post, I have covered all chapter’s lessons
All quotes,
favorite parts of this book (stories, examples, etc)
It also includes at the end of the chapter What action do you need to take?
So, stay tuned till the end.
For just 1 page summary you can click here.
Why do you have to read this book summary?
Reason:
An actual case study is used to vividly illustrate each technique.
Table of Contents
Benefits:
Not only do you learn what to do, but even more crucially, you also learn exactly how to apply each principle to real-world problems and situations.
For example: Get Big Results by Believing Big
Make Your Mind Produce Positive Thoughts… and lots more.
Want to know how?
Favorite quote: Your mind will create a way if you let it.
Let’s get started.
For just 1 page summary you can click here.
THE MAGIC OF THINKING BIG Book summary in 3 sentences.
Our achievements are only as big as our thinking.
Believe and you’ll begin thinking logically.
A person who feels unimportant is actually unimportant.
The five key takeaways from THE MAGIC OF THINKING BIG.
Your brain resembles a bank in many ways. You add new thoughts to your “mind bank” every day.
When we think, we don’t use words or phrases. We only think in terms of images or pictures.
Ask yourself, “Is it really important?” before getting involved in a trivial issue.
If you believe you can, you can find solutions to your own issues.
Your mental state influences your behavior. Your actions determine how other people will respond to you.
Chapter 1: BELIEVE YOU CAN SUCCEED AND YOU WILL
Success entails a wealth of wonderful, beneficial things.
Personal prosperity is defined as having a nice home, going on trips, learning new things, feeling safe in your own skin, and providing your kids with the best opportunities.
Success entails gaining respect, taking on leadership roles, and being looked up to by others in your field and in general society.
Freedom from worries, fears, frustrations, and failure is what success means.
Success entails having self-respect, continuously experiencing more genuine joy and satisfaction in life, and being able to provide for those who depend on you in greater ways.
Success entails success.
Achievement is the ultimate goal in life.
Everyone wants to succeed. Everyone desires the best that this life has to offer. Nobody likes to crawl and exist in mediocrity. Nobody enjoys being made to feel inferior or forced into it.
That biblical proverb that says “faith can move mountains” contains some of the most useful advice for achieving success.
You can move a mountain if you really believe you can. Few people actually think they not have the power to move mountains. Therefore, not many people do.
Belief functions in this way. Belief, or the “Tm-positive-I-can” attitude, produces the strength, aptitude, and energy required to carry out. The how-to develop when you have self-belief.
Chapter 2: CURE YOURSELF OF EXCUSITIS, THE FAILURE DISEASE
PEOPLE— That’s what you’ll study, people, as you THINK YOURSELF to succeed. You will carefully research people to learn about them, then apply success-enhancing principles to your life. And you want to get started immediately.
If you do a thorough analysis of people, you’ll find that unsuccessful people have a disease of mind-numbing thoughts.
This illness is known as excusitis.
This disease manifests itself in the advanced form in every failure. And the majority of “average” people suffer from it to some degree.
Some examples:
My health isn’t great, though.
Health justifications can range from the general “I don’t feel well” to the more detailed “I have such-and-such wrong with me.”
In a thousand different ways, “bad” health is used as a justification for not doing what one wants to do, not taking on more responsibility, not earning more money, and for not succeeding.
Chapter 3: BUILD CONFIDENCE AND DESTROY FEAR
BUDDIES MEAN WELL WHEN THEY SAY, “All you have is your imagination. Not to worry. There is nothing to worry about.”
However, as we both know, this particular fear medication is ineffective.
These reassuring words may temporarily or even permanently calm our fears.
However, the “it’s only in your imagination” remedy doesn’t actually boost self-assurance and eliminate fear.
Fear does exist. And before we can defeat it, we must acknowledge its existence.
Today, psychological fears predominate.
Panic, embarrassment, worry, and other negative emotions are all products of poorly controlled imagination. However, merely being aware of the causes of fear does not eliminate it.
If a doctor finds that you have an infection in some area of your body, he doesn’t just leave it at that.
He continues the infection-curing procedure.
The old adage “it’s all in your mind” assumes that fear is an illusion. It does, though. Fear exists. The biggest enemy of success is fear.
Fear actually shortens life, wears down physical vitality, prevents people from taking advantage of opportunities, closes your mouth when you want to speak, and actually makes people sick.
Fear really is a potent force.
People are prevented from achieving their goals in life in one way or another by fear.
Fear is a type of psychological infection that comes in all shapes and sizes.
Similar to how we treat physical infections, we can treat mental infections with targeted, effective therapies.
Chapter 4: HOW TO THINK BIG
The thing that is incomprehensible is why today’s youth should be so fervently conservative and limited in their outlook on the future. There are more signs of expanding opportunities every day.
In terms of scientific and industrial development, this nation is making unprecedented progress. Rapid population growth is occurring here.
If there was ever a time to be optimistic about America, it is right now.
Because so many people have a tendency to think modestly, there is less competition than you might anticipate for a highly rewarding career.
When it comes to success, people are measured by the size of their thinking, not by their height, weight, college degrees, or family background.
Our achievements are only as big as our thinking.
Chapter 5: HOW TO THINK AND DREAM CREATIVELY
Let’s clear up a common misconception about what creative thinking entails first. For some bizarre reason, it was decided that the only truly creative endeavors were those related to science, engineering, art, and writing.
The majority of people link creative thinking to innovations like the development of color television, the discovery of electricity, the polio vaccine, or the writing of a novel.
Indeed, successes like these show that someone has creative thinking.
Each advancement in the conquest of space is the outcome of a great deal of creative thinking. However, being creative is not just a skill for certain professions or reserved for the exceptionally smart.
So what exactly is creative thinking?
A family with limited resources makes plans to send their son to a prestigious university. That is the original thought.
The least desirable lot on the street is transformed into a scenic area for the community by a family. That is the original thought.
A minister devises a strategy that increases his Sunday night attendance by twofold. That is the original thought.
Simply put, being creative is coming up with new, better ways to do anything. The benefits of all kinds of success—success at work, at home, and in the community—depend on finding ways to improve processes.
Let’s now examine what we can do to improve and expand our capacity for creative thought. Believe you can succeed. Here is a fundamental truth: In order to take action, we must first believe that it is possible.
Believe and you’ll begin to think; open yourself up to new concepts. Accept fresh thoughts. Constructively eliminate the negative thoughts “Won’t work,” “Can’t be done,” “It’s useless,” and “It’s stupid.”
Chapter 6: YOU ARE WHAT YOU THINK YOU ARE
IT’S CLEAR THAT MUCH HUMAN behavior is perplexing.
Have you ever questioned why a salesperson will alertly ask a customer, “Yes sir, may I serve you?” while ignoring a different customer? Alternatively, why does a man open a door for one woman but not another?
Or why a worker consistently follows the instructions of one superior but only reluctantly complies with another’s requests?
Or why do we focus intently on one person’s words but not on another’s?
Look around you; you’ll notice that some individuals are treated with a sincere and important “Yes, sir,” while others are given the “Hey; Mac” or “Hey; buddy” treatment.
You’ll notice that some people inspire trust, fidelity, and admiration while others do not as you keep an eye out.
If you look even closer, you’ll see that the most successful people are also the ones who command the most respect.
What’s the justification? It can be summed up in one phrase: “Thinking does make it so.” Others See in us what you see in yourself, and we’ll treat you the way you think you deserve to be treated.
We must truly believe that we are important if we want others to agree with us. Once more, the reasoning:
Your mental state influences your behavior.
Your actions determine how other people will respond to you.
Chapter 7: MANAGE YOUR ENVIRONMENT: GO, FIRST CLASS
Your mind is a remarkable machine. When your mind functions in a certain way, it can propel you forward to extraordinary success.
However, the same mind acting in a different way can result in complete failure.
The mind is the most sensitive and delicate tool in all of creation.
What the body is fed becomes part of it. In a similar vein, the mind is what it is fed. Of course, there are no packages or stores where you can purchase food for the mind.
The numerous things in your environment that have an impact on your conscious and subconscious thought are what is known as “mind food.”
Our eating habits, attitudes, and personalities are all influenced by the mental food we consume. We all inherited different capacities for growth.
Just as the body reflects the food you give it, the mind reflects what its environment feeds it.
You are a product of your environment, as the saying goes.
Clearly mark it. Our surroundings influence us and the way we think. Try to think of just one behavior or habit you have that you did not learn from others.
Our preferences for music, literature, entertainment, clothing, and other relatively minor things like how we walk, cough, and hold a cup all heavily depend on our environment.
More importantly, your environment shapes the scope of your thinking, your objectives, your attitudes, and even your very personality.
Experts concur that your psychological environment played a significant role in shaping the person you are today, including your personality, goals, and current status in life.
Additionally, experts concur that you will be largely determined by your environment in one, five, ten, or twenty years.
Over the coming months and years, you will change. We are aware of this.
However, your future environment and the mental nourishment you give yourself will determine how you change.
Chapter 8: MAKE YOUR ATTITUDES YOUR ALLIES
Can you read minds? It’s simpler than you think to read minds.
You read other people’s minds and they read your mind every day, even if you’ve never considered it.
What is the process? Through attitude evaluations, we carry it out automatically.
The song “You Don’t Need to Know the Language to Say You’re in Love” comes to mind. Years ago, Bing Crosby made it well-known.
Those straightforward lyrics contain more applied psychology than a whole book. To express your love, you don’t need to speak the language.
Anyone who has ever fallen in love is aware of this.
Furthermore, you don’t need to speak a language to express how you feel about someone: “[like you,” “[despise you,” “[think you’re important,” “unimportant,” or “[envy you.” You don’t need to be literate or speak in words to express how much you like your job, are bored, or are hungry.
People converse silently.
Our actions reflect our thoughts. Attitudes serve as mental mirrors. They convey thought.
In a way, the professional actors—those in high demand in movies and television shows year after year—are not even actors.
They don’t act out their parts. Instead, they become the character they are portraying, losing their own identity. They need to.
They would appear to be fake if they didn’t, and their ratings would fall.
Through facial expressions, voice tones, and inflections, we can read attitudes.
This is why. A speaking language that even remotely resembles what we use today was only recently invented in the incredibly long history of humankind.
You could say that we only just this morning developed a language, which is extremely recent in the grand scheme of things.
People managed for millions and millions of years with little more than moans, groans, grunts, and growls.
Therefore, rather than using words to communicate, humans have been using body language, facial expressions, and sounds for millions of years.
We still use the same methods to express our attitudes and feelings toward people and things.
Body language, facial expressions, and sounds are the only other means of communication we have with infants besides physical contact.
And those young ones exhibit a remarkable ability to detect fraud.
Chapter 9: THINK RIGHT TOWARD PEOPLE
An ESSENTIAL guideline for success is given below. Let’s make a mental note of it and keep it in mind. Success is based on other people’s support, according to the rule.
The help of others is the only thing standing in your way of becoming what you want to be.
Consider this: An executive relies on others to carry out his orders. If not, the executive will be fired by the company president and not the workers.
A salesperson depends on customers to purchase his goods.
If not, the salesman is unsuccessful.
Similar to how a college dean relies on professors to advance his educational program, a politician relies on voters to elect him, and a writer relies on readers to appreciate his work.
A chain store magnate became one because his leadership was well-received by the workforce and customers embraced his merchandising strategy.
Make a good note of this.
No one is promoted to a higher position. Instead, he is raised.
Nobody in this day and age has the time or patience to help someone else climb the painfully slow career ladder.
The person chosen has a record that sets him apart from the others.
Those who know us as likable, personable people elevate us to higher levels. Every new friend you make raises your status by one level. Additionally, being liked makes you easier to lift.
Successful people have a strategy for making friends.
Do you? Top performers rarely share their methods for having the right perspective on other people.
But you’d be surprised at how many extremely powerful individuals have a precise, definite, even documented plan for liking people.
Chapter 10: GET THE ACTION HABIT
There is one thing that industry leaders in every sector concur on: there is a dearth of top-tier, highly qualified candidates to fill critical positions.
Despite popular belief, there is actually plenty of room at the top.
There are a lot of people who are almost qualified, but there is frequently one success ingredient missing, as one executive explained.
That is the capacity to complete tasks and produce outcomes.
Every big job requires a man who thinks action, whether it be running a business, high-level selling, in science, the military, or the government.
When searching for a key individual, principal executives demand answers to questions like “Will he do the job?”
“Will he carry it out?” Does he have initiative? Is he just a talker, or can he produce results?
Finding out if the person is a man of action is the sole purpose of all these inquiries.
Good concepts alone are insufficient. An excellent idea that dies because it isn’t pursued is infinitely preferable to a fair idea that is developed and implemented.
The great independent businessman Nothing manifests itself simply by thinking about it, as John Wanamaker frequently said.
Consider it. From satellites to skyscrapers to baby food, everything we have in this world is just an idea put into practice.
When you study people, both successful and average people, you discover that they fall into two categories. Successful people are active people or activationists.
The passivity of the average, mediocre, and unsuccessful.
They are known as passivationists.
Numerous subtle ways reveal the differences between Mr. Activationist and Mr. Passivationist.
Mr. Activist organizes a getaway.
He accepts it.
Mr. Passivationist organizes a trip. However, he puts it off until the “next” year.
Chapter 11: HOW TO TURN DEFEAT INTO VICTORY
Author by using an illustration My best friend is a management consultant who has had great success.
You immediately feel “uptown” when you enter his office.
His business is successful, as evidenced by the expensive furniture, the plush carpeting, the busy employees, and the prominent clients.
“It must have taken a real can man to put across an operation like this,” a cynic might remark. But the cynic is mistaken.
No can man was required.
And it didn’t require a wise man, a rich man, or a lucky man. All it took was a persistent man who never believed he was defeated (and I hesitate to use the word all because it can mean so much at times).
Behind this successful and well-respected business is the tale of a man who struggled to rise through the ranks, losing ten years’ worth of savings in his first six months of operation, having to stay in his office for several months due to his inability to pay rent on an apartment,
turning down many “good” jobs in order to focus more on his idea and see it through, and having clients say no to him 100 times more frequently than they did yes.
I never once overheard my friend complain during the seven incredibly difficult years it took him to succeed. He would say, “Dave” I’m learning.
This industry is cutthroat, and since the product is intangible, selling it can be challenging. However, I’m learning;”
So, he did.
When you have faith that there is a solution, you naturally transform the negative energy (let’s give up, let’s turn around) into the positive energy (let’s keep going, let’s advance).
Chapter 12: USE GOALS TO HELP YOU GROW
Every bit of human Progress—our small and large inventions, medical breakthroughs, engineering triumphs, and commercial successes—was first envisioned before they were realized.
Babymoons are circling the planet because scientists set out to “conquer space,” not because they happened to find them by chance.
An objective or purpose is a goal. A goal is a dream that is being pursued; it is more than just a dream. A target is more than a vague idea.
I wish I could, though. An unambiguous “This is what I’m working toward” is a goal.
Without a clear goal, nothing happens and nothing can be accomplished. Without objectives, people just float through life.
They never accomplish anything because they bumble along without ever knowing where they are going.
Goals are as necessary to success as breathing air is. Nobody ever achieves success by accident. Never does anyone go without air.
Get a firm grasp on your destination.
Chapter 13: HOW TO THINK LIKE A LEADER
REMINDER AGAIN that you are not compelled to achieve great success. Instead, those who are working next to and below you lift you there.
High-level success necessitates others’ assistance and cooperation. Additionally, gaining the cooperation and support of others calls for leadership skills.
Success and the capacity to influence others, or persuade them to take actions they otherwise wouldn’t, go hand in hand.
Currently, we want to become proficient in four unique executive suites, business, social clubs, the home, or anywhere we find people, there are leadership rules or principles that we can use to influence them to do things for us.
These four guidelines or principles for leadership are:
1. Exchange ideas with the people you want to sway.
2. Consider: What is the humane course of action here.
3. Strive for progress and think, believe, and believe in it.
4. Schedule some alone time to reflect and strengthen your supreme thinking abilities. These guidelines when followed yield results.
Making use of them in regular circumstances removes the mystique surrounding that gilded word, leadership.
Top 10 lessons from THE MAGIC OF THINKING BIG book.
“Believe that it is possible. When you truly believe that something is possible, your mind will come up with solutions. The path to a solution is paved by one’s belief in it.
“What the mind is fed, is what it becomes.”
“Fear is cured by action.”
“Look at things as they might be rather than as they are. Everything gains value from visualization. A big thinker constantly envisions what can be accomplished in the future. He is not limited to the here and now.
“Have some hope. But for hope to succeed, there must be action.
“Much more important than how much intelligence you have is the thinking that underpins that intelligence”
“Those who think they can move mountains actually do so.” People who think they can’t. can’t.
“The thesis is obvious. In this world, successful people don’t wait for the spirit to move them; they move the spirit themselves.
“No matter how severe the psychological issue, it can be resolved by learning to stop drawing negative memories from the past and to substitute them with positive ones.
“Never expect first-class results by treating someone like a second-class citizen.”
Action steps from THE MAGIC OF THINKING BIG.
Separate your phobia. Fixate on it.
Identify the specific thing you are afraid of.
Next, do something. For every fear, there is a corresponding course of action.
Fear is cured by action. Isolate your fear before acting in a positive way. The result of doing nothing in a situation is increased fear and diminished confidence.
Put people in their proper context. Always keep in mind that people are more alike than they are different.
Obtain a fair perspective of the other person. He is merely another person. and cultivate a considerate mindset. While many will bark, few will actually bite.
Work on following your conscience when it tells you to. This stops the emergence of a dangerous guilt complex. Being morally upright is a very practical success principle.
Say, “I’m confident, really confident,” in every way possible. Use these simple strategies in your daily activities:
Take the front row.
Establish eye contact.
25 percent faster stride.
Talk up.
Huge grin.
Don’t undersell yourself. Conquer the sin of self-loathing. Pay attention to your advantages. You’re more capable than you realize.
Extend your vision and look beyond the present.
Practice bringing value to other people, things, and yourself.
Take a broad view of your work. Consider how important your current position is. Your attitude toward your current job will have a major impact on whether you get that next promotion.
Take the word “impossible” out of your vocabulary when you think and speak. Impossible is a word for failure. The statement “It’s impossible” causes a series of other thoughts to follow suit, demonstrating your point.
Consider a special thing you’ve wanted to do but have felt you couldn’t. Now list the justifications for why you can succeed. Because we focus on the reasons why we can’t instead of the reasons why we can, many of us simply whip and crush our desires.
Every day, ask yourself, “How can I do better?” The potential for self-improvement is endless. You’ll get good answers if you ask yourself, “How can I do better?” Try it to find out.
Expand your thinking. Get inspired. Join forces with those who can inspire you to think of fresh concepts and innovative approaches. Befriend those who have diverse professional and social interests.
You can think more important if you appear important. Your exterior speaks to you. Make sure it makes you feel better and gives you more self-assurance. Your outward appearance speaks volumes. Make sure it says, please. “This is a significant individual: intelligent, successful, and trustworthy.”
Ask yourself, “Is this the way an important person thinks?” in all of life’s circumstances. then follow the advice.
Make your surroundings work with you rather than against you.
Avoid thinking defeat when faced with suppressive forces—the pessimistic, “you can’t do it” types.
Don’t let people with limited perspectives hinder you. People who are envious want to see you fail. Give them no satisfaction in doing so.
Consult with successful people for advice. Future prospects are crucial. Never take a chance with independent consultants who are living failures.
Remove mental toxins from your surroundings. Avert chatting. Talk about people, but always in a good way.
Be the best at everything you do. You cannot afford to turn around.
Show your appreciation whenever possible. Make others feel valued.
Identify people by name.
Develop a “Service first” mentality, and money will take care of itself. Make it a point to always give people more than they anticipate receiving.
To lift, make yourself lighter. Be likeable. Develop the personality that people like. This wins their approval and strengthens your program for achieving success.
Accept the limitations and differences of people. No one is perfect, so don’t demand it. Keep in mind that everyone has the right to be unique. Also, avoid being a reformer.
Practice being generous in conversation. Be successful like them.
Invite others to speak. Let the other person discuss his or her beliefs, opinions, and accomplishments with you.
Engage in activation. Become an action-taker. Don’t be a don’ter.”; be a doer.
Don’t wait until everything is ideal. Never will they be.
Anticipate and overcome any challenges that may arise in the future.
Remember that success won’t come from ideas alone. Ideas are only valuable when they are put into practice.
Start the mechanical part of your mind. Don’t hold off until the spirit touches you. Move the spirit by taking initiative and persevering.
Think about the present. Tomorrow, next week, later, and other similar phrases are frequently interchangeable with the failure term never. Be the type of person who says, “I’m starting right now.”
Stop blaming luck Investigate each setback. Identify the problem. Always keep in mind that blaming luck never got anyone where they wanted to go.
Always keep in mind that every situation has a positive side. Get it.
Consider the positive and overcome discouragement.
Create a ten-year plan in writing. Life is too precious to be left up to chance. What you want to achieve in the areas of work, home, and social life should be written down.
Give yourself over to your desires. Make plans to increase your energy. To accomplish things, set goals. Set objectives and learn to truly enjoy life.
Reach your objective incrementally. No matter how small it may seem, think of every task you complete as progress toward your end goal.
Develop yourself. Invest in items that enhance mental capacity and effectiveness. Finance education. Purchase idea generators.
Thank you for your time.
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